Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a printing apparatus with a movable tray configured to hold sheets with images printed thereon, and a method for controlling the printing apparatus.
Description of the Related Art
In a printing apparatus, sheets with images printed thereon are discharged into a discharge tray (tray), in which the sheets are held. A movable tray is configured to be able to be opened and closed around a rotatably moving shaft. While out of use, the discharge tray remains closed making the printing apparatus compact and preventing dust and the like from entering a printing section inside the printing apparatus.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2010-6608 proposes an apparatus that automatically opens the discharge tray utilizing the rotating force of a discharge roller configured to discharge sheets with images printed thereon onto the discharge tray. Specifically, the apparatus includes a delay mechanism that transmits rotation of the discharge roller in a first direction to the discharge tray so that the discharge tray is opened when the discharge roller rotates in the first direction by an amount equal to or larger than a delayed rotation amount (delay accumulation amount) accumulated in the delay mechanism. The delay accumulation amount is accumulated in the delay mechanism according to the amount of rotation of the discharge roller in a second direction. When the same drive source is shared by the discharge roller and a suction pump for ink and the suction pump is actuated in conjunction with the rotation of the discharge roller in the first direction, the discharge roller is rotated in the second direction to sufficiently accumulate the delayed rotation amount (delay accumulating operation). Thus, the discharge tray can be prevented from being inadvertently opened while the suction pump is in operation.
For reduced size and cost of the printing apparatus, the same drive source is desirably used to drive not only the discharge roller and the suction pump but also a recovery mechanism that performs a recovery operation for a print head configured to print an image. The recovery operation is an operation for keeping the print head in an appropriate condition. For example, when the print head is an ink jet print head that can eject ink, the recovery operation includes an operation of wiping the print head, an operation of moving a cap for the print head, and an operation of setting the pressure in the cap to a negative value to suck ink from the print head.
When the same drive source is shared by such a recovery mechanism and the discharge roller, the delay accumulating operation needs to be frequently performed during the recovery operation. This results in the need of a long time for the recovery operation. Thus, when a job (print job) of printing an image is received during the recovery operation, the job is forced to wait for a long time until the recovery operation ends.